Jará (far right) at Jungle Fight. Photo: Carlos Ozório

Joe Moreira Jiu-Jitsu black belt Marcos Adriano Albuquerque, better known as Marco Jara, is yet another victim of violence in Brazil, which even on Christmas Eve spares no one. The coach was murdered this Thursday, while Jará’s friend, American Brent Garret, was shot in the stomach and is in stable condition.

The coach and the American recently arrived in Brazil from the United States. Both went on to a party in the Southern Rio de Janeiro town of Paraty, where they would have celebrated Christmas, when they stopped in Santa Cruz to ask directions. At that moment, they were approached by two armed men. According to the police, Garret was shot when he tried to react, and thrown from the car, while the suspects fled in Jará’s Land Rover.

The coach was found hours later, dead, in the car, at the entrance to Sapo Favela, in the Senador Camará area of Western Rio.

Recently, Jará accompanied Brett Cooper, who defeated Brazil’s Sergio Moraes, at Jungle Fight.

Reis sought to incorporate the most talked about submission of the year into his arsenal, the choke from the mount, as he reveals to GRACIEMAG.com.

“I was inspired by Roger Gracie for this South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship, because while in training I would sink the choke from the mount, in some championships I would end up losing the position. I noticed some details that Roger uses to get the finish in his fights, as I got a chance to be near him at Gracie Barra Irvine, this last World Championship. I could see well while he rolled how he sinks it, how he puts his hand in deep, details of elbow positioning… the finer details. I think this was a fundamental part of the move working for me in my game. His Jiu-Jitsu is basic and really well done,” said Mario Reis, who used the choke from the mount to finish CheckMat’s Leon Amancio.

Roger Gracie catches Romulo Barral with a choke from the mount at the 2009 Worlds. Photo by Regis Chen

“I was inspired by Roger Gracie for this South American Jiu-Jitsu Championship, because while in training I would sink the choke from the mount, in some championships I would end up losing the position. I noticed some details that Roger uses to get the finish in his fights, as I got a chance to be near him at Gracie Barra Irvine, this last World Championship. I could see well while he rolled how he sinks it, how he puts his hand in deep, details of elbow positioning… the finer details. I think this was a fundamental part of the move working for me in my game. His Jiu-Jitsu is basic and really well done,” said Mario Reis, who used the choke from the mount to finish CheckMat’s Leon Amancio.

In the final, Reis beat Maxmiliano Campos (CheckMat) with a choke from the back at 1:30min of the match.

“I found the South American to be of a really good level, not just the black belts but the other belts, too. A student of mine had five matches to become blue belt champion, the whites fought a lot as well. All I needed was this title for my career, and I’m stoked for it and for the level of the championship,” said Mário Reis, a sure name on the rosters of the European Championship in January and the World Pro Jiu-Jitsu League, this coming weekend in São Paulo, with cash prizes and Michael Langhi, Tarsis Humphreys, Sérgio Morais, Luiz Felipe Big Mac, Bruno Malfacine among others in the mix.